Various consumer survey procedures have been utilized for measuring consumer response to advertising materials and product packaging. One method directed to on-shelf packaging performance was to use an eye movement recorder. That system included photographically reproducing a simulated scene presented as if a test subject was walking through a supermarket or similar environment. An eye movement recorder was then used to observe if the test subject's eye was fixed on any of the products shown on a projection screen. A typical example of such an eye movement monitoring apparatus as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,657. A problem of that testing procedure was that it only indicated if the test subject noticed the product, but it was not an indicator as to whether it successfully aroused or provoked further action.
Another shortcoming with that type of eye motion study was that it did not duplicate actual conditions of a representative purchaser. In particular, a consumer after noticing a package may have expressed further interest and a desire to more carefully examine the product, read the label, check the ingredients, etc. This reaction could not be detected with the aforementioned photographic surveying procedure, since the products typically appeared approximately five feet from the camera which was intended to simulate the location of a consumer walking down the middle of a shopping aisle. Although a purchaser may have been initially attracted to a package and this fact was observed using the eye movement detection procedure, there was still a possibility that the consumer would continue moving down the aisle without purchasing the product; however once the consumer inspects the package there is a greater likelihood of actual purchase. Thus, with the prior test method it was not possible to fully assess consumer interest and concomitant package performance.
The tandem imaging system of this invention is an improvement over the pior art in that it has the capability of delivering enlarged viewing images, on demand, through a multiple projection arrangement. Conventional plural display projection equipment such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,622,236 and 4,231,643 utilized a dissolve mechanism for alternately phasing each projector in sequence to present successive displays in a continuous slide show on a single screen. Those prior art devices, however, were not coordinated for responding to viewer command or keyed for selective presentation of detailed views. It should, therefore, be apparent that a market survey procedure that could measure consumer reaction as induced by visual stimuli would provide a more accurate indication of the impact created upon the viewer.